The Brooklyn Museum is a lasting landmark in the New York area that brings more than 450,000 visitors annually to see its acclaimed artistic temporary exhibitions and permanent collections. The Great Hall of the museum, located on the first floor, is a 10,000 square foot room filled with 16 giant columns. The hall which is positioned between the café, museum book store and other creative exhibits, acts as a common area for museum visitors and personnel. It is also currently hosting an exhibit called, “reOrder,” until January 15 of 2012.

“reOrder” is a site-specific installation created by Situ Studio, an architectural design studio founded in 2005 in Brooklyn, New York. The installation alters the current classical architecture to help visitors understand the impressive scale of the main entrance, as well as explore the architectural ornamentation that allows the Grand Hall to not only be artfully decorated, but also functional.

In order to create the entire installment, LG Hausys donated its solid surfacing material for the project. Slabs of acrylic HI-MACS® Solid Surfaces were used to construct the Great Hall’s furniture. Wrapped benches and tables were positioned at the bottom of the columns, which currently are covered in elaborate fabric designs (pictured above).

“LG Hausys' solid surfacing was used to construct furniture around the base of the 16 large classical columns in the Great Hall,” said Wes Rozen, one of Situ Studio’s five founding partners. “A specialized computer was used to precisely cut pieces of HI-MACS®, which were then thermoformed into a range of curved shapes and brought together in wedges to encircle the base of the columns. The finished furniture elements appear as extensions to the existing Doric architectural order, or as entirely new type of architectural ornamentation which is also functional.”

Because HI-MACS® Solid Surfaces can be precisely thermoformed, or designed in virtually any size or three-dimensional shape, Situ Studio approached LG Hausys in order to use their materials. LG Hausys donated the material, and a sub-contractor finalized the thermoforming and seating installation. The designers from Situ Studio chose the White Quartz color variation from LG Hausys’ HI-MACS® Solid Surfaces Classic collection.